Vending machine



1941- E. w. HANDLEY ET AL 2,253,854

VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 26, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l In very *0 rs 5m on W. Hand/e, Wnlfer 9, Styersrm Aug. 26, 1941.

E. W. HANDLEY ET AL VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 26, l939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 u v M ii. 5---: it;

SECTION R44 m @M Mm r 5 3 e MMWQM V94. .4 5mm W M,

Patented Aug. 26, 1941 VENDING W. Handley, Arlington,

Ernest V Segerstrom, Somerville,

mount Coin Machine Company,

and Walter G. Mass., assignors to Tri- Boston, Mass,

, a corporation of Massachusetts Application 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to vending machines and in particular to vending machines in which are flat and may be stacked one upon another in the vending machine. 1

In the present invention the articles are stacked or packed in columns in such a manner that they occupy a small space so that a comparatively large quantity of packages may be stored in the machine and therefore avoid re filling at frequent intervals.

In the present machine this .is accomplished without substantially using more space'by arranging the columns in rows for which one out let serves for ejecting the packages. In combination with chine serves as a connecting ing a lock mechanism so that the machine may be operated for ejecting the packages from one or the other column in whi'ch'the packages are stacked. The packages are taken from the columns alternately by movement'of a .member which reciprocates back and forth ejecting the lowest package in the column in the outlet of the machine.

Other and further advantages will be understood from the following specification containing a description of an embodiment of the pres ent invention together with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portlonof the vending machine indicating the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevationof the machine shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is another front elevation of the machine shown in Figure lbut with the front cover plate removed.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line A-A of Figure 5, and,

Figure 5 is a plan view in Figure 1.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the vending machine, it will be noted contains two frames 6 in which there are stacks of the articles to be vended, designated l and 2 respectively in Figure 4. These articles may be gum, chocolate, or any uniform package that may be uniformly stacked so that the machine may operate to advance the articles all in the same way. The frames supporting the articles comprise end and back supports 3 and 4 respectively extending as high as it is desired to make the vending maof the machine shown this the coin' inserted in the mat element for releas- January 26, 1939, Serial. No. 252,918

' comprises a flat plate extending walls chine, the end supports 3 having angles 15 extending from the ends as shown in Figure 5. The side supports 3 of the frames may be fixed to the side plates 5, by the brackets 5 by welding or otherwise, which plates 5 are a part of the frame of the machine. This side plate 5 also supports the mechanism shown in Figure l for advancing the position of the articles being vended and also the mechanism of the coin selector system cooperating with the first named mechanism for vending'the merchandise.

The frames 6 are partially closed at the bottom by the bracket members angles from the sides of the frames 6, but the center section of the frame is open at the base to allow the reciprocatingmechanism to operate to eject the: packages as will be presently described. For this purpose an'opening 8 is left 'at the bottom of. the wall 4 of the frame sufficiently large so that only one. package may be ejected at a time At the'base of; the frames is a platform or plate 9 with an opening Ill positioned between the frames into which the package is sent' upon leaving the frame. This ejection from the frame: 6 through the opening I!) is accomplished by means of the ejector H which l2 with a large center openpackage to be vended is long, upon. which is mounted" at the end portions two flat square cornered: C shaped members l3 and" M positioned back to back. The sides of the center opening l6 are provided with upwardly I1 about the same height as the C shaped members. The inner edges of the C shaped members are positioned far enough apart so that when. the inner edge of one member has just passed beyond the side wall of the frame, the. inner edge of, the. other member is beyond the further side wall of the other frame. The top sides of the G shaped members must however be sufficiently long so that when they pass to an inside position between the frames, these top elementsstill support the columns of packages and prevent the lowest package from resting upon the base of the. frame. until the C shaped: member returns. to its position external of the wall l5 when the column will drop and a new package will bein position to be vended. The walls 3 and i5 extend, all the way down to the base bracket 1, so that the packages may not be pushed. outward from the center line position as viewed in Figure 4- The ejector plate I forth in the manner ing It as wide as the l is recip-rocated back and about. to be explained and first ejects from one: column I, for instance, as

I extending at right the element l4 moves to the center and then from the column 2 as the element l3 moves to the center, in each case through the opening [6 in the plate H and into the opening I Which sends the package down a chute not shown, and

In the ejector plate ll beneath the member I 4 is a rectangular slot I3 (Figure 5) through which there projects an arm I9 (Figures 5 and 4) which extends upwardly from the bell crank lever pivoted to the base 9 by means of the pivot 2|. The bell crank lever 20 is provided with a recess 22 by means of which the cam is engaged by the cylinder 23 which is mounted eccentrically in itsface plate 24 to the spur gear 25 by means of the bolt 26.

The spur gear 25 is shown in face View in Figures 3 and 2, and comprises symmetrically placed teeth 21 with deeper recessed portions 28 position, bears against the projection 32 of the cam 33 which is pivoted to the upright plate 5 on the pivot 34. The cam 33 is also provided with a projecting finger 35 to which is fastened a helical spring 36, the other end of which is mounted to the frame 5 through the bracket 38 held to the frame by the screw 37. The cam is therefore tensioned against the position before the projection.

The cam 33 works in conjunction with the bar 39 and the coin 49 in the The bar 39 is mounted externally of a side plate 3| which is rigidly at tached to the plate 5 by means. of the screws 42 as indicated in Figure 1. This side plate 4| has a portion 43 pressed outward from the rest of the platerforming a narrow pocket 44 (Figure 2) in which the coin 4B finally drops after being deposited, but before being freed and sent into the coin box below the plate from the outlet 45. The bar 39 slides with respect to the side plate 4! between two sets of guides 45, 4'5, pressed out from the side plate 4! at the top of the bar 39 and 47, 4'! positioned at the bottom of the bar 39. The side plate 4! is provided with an opening 48 aleng'a portion of the bar 39, and the bar in turn has a projecting arm 49 projecting into this opening and into the narrow pocket 44.

The cam 33 also swings or rotates in this narrow pocket, but is positioned away from the arm tablished between the is deposited in the position shown in Figure l. The coin gains the positions indicated in the figure by passing through the slot 50 between the edge of the side plate Al and the back plate 5 and dropping down until its lower edge rests on the wall edge 5! formed by the plates 4| and the It should also be noted that the bar 39 has a flange 52 at its forward end projecting into the same recess 28 or 29 as the arm 32 of the cam 33, and that it is tensioned in this position by the spring 53, one end of which is hung onto the bar 39 as indicated at 54 and the other end of which is hooked to the prong 55 fastened to the plate 5.

With no coin in position when the spur gear 25 is rotated, the side of the gear comes down to such an extent that when upon the projecting arm 52 of the end of the bar 39 and the gear is locked and the mechanism will not operate to work the ejector plate ll. When however the correct coin is in position as indicated in Figure l in dotted lines, the initial depression of the arm 32 of the cam 33 sends the other portion of the cam 33 near the coin 4D to the right as shown in Figure 1 and moves to the right as shown positioned in Figure 1 and the edge 30 of the spur gear 25 comes into the position of the end 52 of the bar 39, the bar 39 has moved sufliciently to the right that the gear will clear the bar and rotation of the spur gear will continue. The motion of the cam 33 is completed after the portion 30 of the spur gear has passed beyond the arm 32 whereupon the end of the arm 32 will bear upon the back of the spur gear 25 and be ready to snap into the next recess as it comes into position.

cam 33 and the arm 49, the bar 39 again becomes disengaged and the spring 53 forces the bar to the left, with the result that the end of the cam 52 comes up against the back of the spur gear 25 ready to drop into the recess in the spur gear.

The purpose of the teeth of the spur gear is simply to prevent rotation of the handle 6| in'the direction opposite to that intended. To accomplish this, there is mounted on the face plate 62 in which the shaft 63 is journaled, which shaft carries the spur gear 25 and the cylinder 23, a spring tensioned cam 64, having a projecting pawl 65 engaging the gear 25 to prevent motion in the direction of the arrow 66.

by the coin, the

positioned cylinder of the bell crank lever 29, swings the cam in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 5 It will be noted that an arcuate slot H is proso as to permit the free motion of the cam arm IS. The continued rotalever 20 brings the plate H base and which now is in the path of the element l3.

For this purpose however twocoins will be necessary because for each half turn gear is locked by the end 52 of the bar 33.

The mechanism for The mechanism of the present invention may be incorporated in many types and styles of ma chines, but principally provided as will be noted from the description above, front and rear columns and therefore may contain double the merchandise contained in a single column machine.

Having now described our invention, we claim:

1. In combination in a vending machine for vending fiat packages, means for supporting a plurality of vertical columns of the packages to be vended in rows with a space between the columns slightly larger than that of the packages to be vended, said columns supporting means having at their bases, openings adjacent said space, means positioned to engage said openings for ejecting the packages columns comprising a member having its end portions raised the thickness of said packages to engage said openings at the bases of said columns, said end portions being spaced from each other at their nearest edges the distance of the space between the columns plus the width of one of said columns, means manually rotatable, and means adapted to be operated by said manually rotatable means for reciprocating said ejecting means and ejecting said from the base of each of said columns into the space therebetween, said space being covered by a wall having an opening therein through which the ejected articles pass when moved into said space.

2. In combination in a vending machine, means manually rotatable for delivering articles to be vended, means rotatable eccentrically therewith, a bell crank lever pivoted in a plane perpendicularly to the plane of rotation of said first means from the bases of said packages alternately and having one end operable by said eccentric means, a frame having means for supporting in columns articles to be vended, with an opening between said columns through which the ejected articles pass, ejecting means in operative relation to said columns at the base thereof, said ejecting means being connected to the other end of said bell crank lever and operative in a plane perpendicular to said manually rotatable means, said ejecting means also adapted to be recipro cated back and forth in relation to said columns with the continued rotation of said rotating means for ejecting the articles through said opening.

3. In combination in a vending machine, means operable manually for ejecting therefrom articles to be vended comprising a rotatable shaft having an open ended cylindrical cam mounted eccentrically on said shaft, a bell crank lever pivoted with its axis of notation normal to the shaft and having a recess on one side on its periphery engaging the open end of said cylinder and on the other side an arm having a projecting member, a frame having means for supporting in colurnns articles to be vended, with an opening between said columns through which the ejected articles pass, ejecting means in operative relation to said columns at the base thereof, said ejecting means having a slot engaging the projecting member of said lever whereby said ejecting means is adapted to be reciprocated back and forth in relation to said columns for ejecting the articles through said opening.

4. In combination in a vending machine, means operable manually for ejecting therefrom articles to be vended comprising a rotatable shaft having an open ended cylindrical cam mounted eccentrically on said shaft, a bell crank lever pivoted with its axis of rotation normal to the shaft and having a recess on one side on its periphery engaging the open end of said cylinder and on the other side an arm having a projecting member, a frame having means, for supporting in columns articles to be vended, with an opening between said columns through which the ejected articles pass, ejecting means in operative relation to said columns at the base thereof, said ejecting means comprising a tray with an open center freely supported for horizontal motion across the base of said COIUIHI'IS and having upwardly projecting portions for sliding the articles out from the base of the columns into said open center and a slot at one end of the tray engaging the projecting member of said lever whereby said ejecting means is adapted to be reciprocated back and forth in relation to said columns for ejecting the articles through said opening.

ERNEST W. I-IANDLEY. WALTER G. SEGERSTROM. 

